Dallas man who sold gun used by Colleyville synagogue hostage-taker is sentenced
A Dallas man who sold Malik Faisal Akram the gun he used to kidnap hostages in a Colleyville synagogue was sentenced on Monday to nearly eight years in prison for the federal crime, according to authorities.
Henry “Michael” Dwight Williams, 33, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge David Godbey to 95 months in federal prison.
Williams had been charged in January and indicted the following month. He pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in June.
Akram was shot and killed by federal authorities in January after he held four people hostage for several hours at Colleyville’s Congregation Beth Israel synagogue. He had let one hostage go and the other hostages escaped before federal agents breached the synagogue.
Williams — a felon previously convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and attempted possession of a controlled substance — sold Akram a semiautomatic Taurus G2C pistol on Jan. 13, according to the federal complaint.
In plea papers, Williams admitted to possession of that firearm despite his prior conviction.
According to the complaint, on Jan. 15, agents recovered the pistol from Colleyville’s Congregation Beth Israel synagogue.
FBI agents tied Williams and Akram through an analysis of Akram’s cellphone records, which showed the pair exchanged a series of calls from Jan. 11 through Jan. 13.
When agents first interviewed Williams on Jan. 16, Williams stated that he recalled meeting a man with a British accent, but that he could not recall the man’s name. (Akram was a British citizen.)
Agents interviewed the defendant again on Jan. 24, after he was arrested on an outstanding state warrant. After viewing a photo of Akram, Williams confirmed he sold Akram the handgun at an intersection in South Dallas.
Analysis of both men’s cellphone records showed that the two phones were in close proximity on Jan. 13.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Dallas Police Department; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives’ Dallas Field Division; Homeland Security Investigations’ Dallas Field Division; and the Colleyville Police Department.
